


What Now? Or Dani, Rahne, Illyana, Roberto and Sam in the real world

by yeahyeahyeahs



Category: The New Mutants (2020)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Found Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Movie, Some Humor, danixrahne fluff cause they deserve it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeahyeahyeahs/pseuds/yeahyeahyeahs
Summary: The five teens managed to get free of the hospital and defeat the giant bear. What now?Takes place just after the movie.
Relationships: Danielle Moonstar/Rahne Sinclair
Comments: 43
Kudos: 121





	1. Come on and jump, I dare you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> I saw The New Mutants twice and I suddenly wanted to write what happened next, which is weird since the last time I wrote fanfiction was for the warrior cats in 2012.  
> Big disclaimer: I know next to nothing about the MCU etc, so this will mostly be the movie, what I read on Wikipedia and my own headcanons. Also I'm French, so my English might not be the most natural thing. Lastly I've not been writing long things in forever and I don't really know where I'm going with this so *shrug*  
> I had fun writing this, I hope you'll find it as enjoyable to read! Don't hesitate to tell me any criticism, mistakes or things you'd like to see next!  
> Also I put this on the tag started by WhiteravenGreywolf, that I found when searching for fanfictions as soon as I left the theatre as you do, to avoid mixing it with the comics etc since I'm entirely based on the movie, so thanks to her!  
> PS: Can anyone find where the chapter title is from?

“What now?”

  
Looking at the ruins, motionless, Dani only realized she had spoken out loud when Illyana answered.  
“Well first Roberto, please get some pants.”

Rahne stuck her head through the door.

  
“Want some help? I finished my bag.”

“Nah, don’t worry. It’s not like I had a lot of things to begin with. But I don’t have a bag.”

  
Her girlfriend -were they girlfriends? she would have time to worry about that later- made a grabby hand motion and Dani handed her the few clothes and toiletries Reyes gave her only two weeks ago. She played with the hem of the thin blanket, suddenly unsure. She had managed to stop herself from really thinking about the future while showering away all the blood and gathering her stuff, but the questions were gnawing at the back of her head. Where could they go? Maybe everyone would want to go their own way. Then what? Her reserve was destroyed. Her dad- And Essex Corp would probably try to get them to come back, and she didn’t even know how to use her power-

  
“Hey.”

  
She looked up, swallowing the traitorous lump in her throat. Rahne stroked her cheek gently, holding her gaze steadily.

  
“We’re gonna be okay. Let’s see the real world now!”

  
Dani took her hand and slammed the door behind them.

The others were nowhere to be seen but Rahne led her to Reyes’ office, following her heightened hearing. Sam and Roberto are rummaging through drawers, the latter straightening up with an exclaimed “Ah!”, a small key in his hand. He turned to show it to Sam and jumped upon seeing the girls.

  
“Found the key!” he said proudly.

  
Rahne and Dani looked at each other. Sam grinned excitedly.

  
“Yay. The key for what? Wasn’t everything controlled by her voice?”

  
He brushed her questions aside and strode the room in three steps. He opened the huge metal cupboard in a corner and got out four cardboard boxes, each marked with a name. Rahne reluctantly let go of Dani’s hand to get closer, brushing her fingers over her name.

  
“Is that…”

  
“The things this bitch took from us,” finished Sam disdainfully. It was weird to hear him, ever the peacekeeper, speak so harshly of the woman he used to trust wholly. “Dani, you don’t have one? She wouldn’t let us keep anything other than clothes. Said it was for our own good, so we’d actually finish the therapy.”

  
“I only had my necklace,” she answered, sitting on the desk to watch.

  
It seemed somewhat intrusive but she didn’t want to be alone right now. This being said, maybe she should go see where Illyana had disappeared.

“Is that what I think it is?”

  
No need after all. The blonde tore her box open unceremoniously, Lockheed on one hand. She held up a piece of paper in front of the puppet -well, by now they all knew it was not really one-, whispering in Russian. Dani had realized that although Illyana talked English with the dragon when wanting others to understand, like during her very first day, she usually spoke to him in her mother tongue.  
Illyana snickered and put the paper in her pocket.

Rahne finished putting her things into her backpack and came to sit next to Dani, kissing her on the cheek.

  
“Alright ?”

  
“Perfect,” she made a gesture towards the old box, “I realized I never asked how long you all have been here.”  
Four pairs of eyes -five if she counted black plastic eyes- fell on her and she wondered if she had once again been tactless. But Sam simply shrugged and said “about ten months, but I was the last to arrive” so either they were too tired to care, either saving each other from a giant dream bear and subsequently freeing themselves from their golden cage got them close enough to forget tact. Perhaps both.

“A year, like Illy,” commented Roberto. “But there were other people before, right Rahne? You’ve been here the longest.”

  
“Yeah. I arrived two years ago I think? At the very beginning of the program, actually. We were five, the others moved one by one. Now I wonder where they were sent to…”

  
“Remember Mike?” said Illyana, “man, the boy was dumb as a brick. It doesn’t surprise me that he left first, he already had the whole brainless part of brainless killer.”

  
It wasn’t really funny but they laughed shamelessly, the light tension defused.

His box now empty, Roberto sat backwards on the desk chair and rolled himself towards the others.

  
“So, what are we doing now? Anyone got an idea?”

  
“We can’t stay near,” answered Sam. “Essex will probably come looking after us and I won’t go back in their program shit.”

  
“Let’s already go to the first town. We don’t even know where we are.”

  
Dani touched the photo of her father in her pocket, cautiously folded with her necklace. These may be her only belongings, but looking up to the others, she thought she didn’t need more. All the questions turning in her head were useless ; she had her friends. They would be okay. She jumped from the desk, taking Rahne’s hand in hers.

  
“She said thirty miles away, uh? Let’s see for ourselves.”

They had been walking in companionable silence for about fifteen minutes when Sam spoke up, slightly out of breath.

  
“Hey. Reyes lived in the hospital with us, right? She never left. So there were deliveries for food and whatever. You don’t think she had a car?”

  
“Nah, I looked everywhere,” said Illyana. “And none of us know how to drive anyway.”

  
“I do,” said Dani. “My dad taught me.”

  
“Do you even reach the pedals?” said Illyana, her voice mocking like always but her smile warm.

  
Dani shrugged, swinging her and Rahne’s linked hands.

  
“I only drove the truck around once or twice though.”

  
“Still, we’d be faster,” mumbled Sam.

  
“If you really wanna go faster, go for it, fly away,” teased Roberto half-seriously. “Wait, you could do that, no? To see how long we still have and if we are even going in the right direction.”

  
Sam gestured helplessly towards his broken arm and slight limp that persisted since the battle against the giant bear, what seemed like an eternity ago but was only a few hours.

  
“I’d rather not right now.”

  
“Nobody had a phone?” asked Rahne.

  
“Nah. And Reyes’ got eaten with her.”

  
She hummed.

  
“I can’t smell anyone except us.”

  
“Probably because of Roberto’s obnoxious shampoo,” commented Illyana.

  
“You told me it smelled good!” he cried out, clutching his chest in mock hurt.

  
“Don’t we all have the same anyway?”

  
“Maybe it’s his own body odor then.”

  
Roberto shoved Illyana lightly, which started a ten-minute long shove battle involving all five teenagers.

“Once we’re up that hill we’ll be able to see further away,” said Dani, rubbing her forearm. Sam had apologized profusely for not measuring his strength with his cast.

  
They looked at each other, a puppy-like excitation still reigning.

  
“Last one at the top is a loser!”

  
They took off running.


	2. Don't look back or it's gonna end badly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Thank y'all for the comments and kudos :D  
> Here's the second part, hope you're gonna like it!  
> TW: Underage drinking (only quickly mentioned) - Dani is said to be 16 in the movie, and I headcanon Sam and Rahne to be about 16 too, and Illyana and Roberto 17.  
> By the way the title of the first chapter is from The Regrettes' song I Dare You. Can you guess where this one's from?

“You cheated!” yelled Rahne when she finally got next to Illyana. She had only run half the hill before teleporting herself.

“Look who’s talking.”

Yeah, okay, Rahne had changed right before the other girl disappeared. She shook her head, nearly drunk from all the sensations. She had morphed back but all the scents and sounds were still there. Although she already had heightened senses, it couldn’t compare to the overwhelming rush she felt as a wolf.

“Took you long enough!”

The others three finally arrived, the boys dropping to the ground one on top of the other. Dani beamed at Rahne.

“You looked like you were having fun.”

Still ecstatic, Rahne hugged her briefly. Then she turned around, taking in the panorama.

“Look, we can see the hospital.”

She turned her back to the buildings. The sun had begun setting and she spotted tiny city lights, nested further in the valley. The track they had been following led to it, weaving between woods and fields, running alongside a river and Rahne looked around. The whispering of the wind in the trees and the soft discussions of the others prevented her from hearing the water, but it must start near, on the top of this wooden hill. She started sniffing around.

She felt more than she saw Dani tense next to her.

“You’re smelling something? Someone is coming?”

“No, don’t worry. Just trying to find the river. Look, the city is down there. We’ll never get there today, and we’re all tired.”

Dani nodded.

“We should stop there for the night.”

The others wearily agreed. The excitation of being victorious and free was starting to wear out. They settled in a small clearing and Roberto lit up a small fire. Illyana spread out one of the covers taken from their beds and sat to rummage through her bag, pulling a big sweater on.

After only five minutes of comfortable silence, Sam started snoring on Roberto’s shoulder, lanky limbs askew, his cap falling on his eyes. The other boy cautiously pulled out the last of the food they found in the fridge, trying not to wake him up. Using his powers always consumed most of his energy, no wonder he was ready to fall asleep standing up as soon as the adrenaline disappeared.

“You should wake him up,” said Illyana. “He’s gotta be hungry.”

She leaned over from the other side of Roberto and shook him up without waiting for an answer.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” she sing-songed as Sam jumped awake.

Roberto passed around pieces of bread and plastic tubs of leftovers.

“Thank you. Hey, did anyone think of taking forks?”

They did not. Rahne got a water bottle out of her bag, took a drink and handed it to Illyana, at her left, but the girl shook her head.

“I’ve got better.”

She produced a clear glass bottle, smiling proudly. Roberto cheered.

“Where did you get that?” asked Dani.

“In the bedroom of one of the guys who got out. Erik? The one with weird hair.”

Illyana took a long swig, keeping a poker face. Then she held it to Rahne with an air of defiance.

“Your turn, doggy.”

The smaller girl took it and drank easily, swallowing her grimace with more vodka. She gave the bottle to Dani and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her ratty sweater. Illyana raised her eyebrows.

“I’m impressed.”

“My cousins and I used to sneak the alcohol during family dinners,” she said, smiling at the memories. “Now that I think about it our parents probably just pretended not to see we were drunk at dessert. Once my cousin Skye tripped and fell into my grandma’s birthday cake.”

Dani laughed and slipped her arm around Rahne’s shoulders. Rahne cuddled up to her, feeling a warmth unrelated to the alcohol. She watched the sparks as Sam poked the crackling fire with a stick. 

They drank and talked about silly things, deliberately avoiding anything about the last day or the future, until Illyana literally fell asleep mid-sentence. Sam had been silent for the last ten minutes, curled up under a blanket, and the last three were competing for the longest yawn by now, so Roberto threw some wood in the roaring fire and they settled for the night.

  
  


Dani’s elbow hit her head and Rahne suddenly woke up. Judging by the slowly extinguishing fire, she got at least an hour of sleep. Dani was mumbling, her eyes shut tightly. Rahne let her eyes run over her frowning face. Something tugged at her heart: it was the same expression Dani wore on the very first time she saw her, peeking at her from the vents. She hesitantly extended an hand towards her, wanting to smooth the wrinkles on her forehead-

Someone was whispering behind her. She wanted to believe it was only Illyana, Sam and Roberto, but she was painfully aware that they were fast asleep in front of her. And she knew this voice. The scar on her neck started tingling.

Rahne sat up. Reverend Craig was dead. She killed him herself. She killed him. She sank her claws in his chest and she tore into his skin and he died. 

She heard the sizzling of his red-hot iron.

“You’re a monster.”

She turned around. The full moon shed light on his bloody face between the trees. She repressed the growing dread in her stomach and looked into his small eyes.

“You’re not real. You’re dead.”

He turned his head towards the trees as another silhouette emerged from the shadows. Rahne felt her nails dig into her palms -when had she started changing?- when she recognized the newcomer. 

Reyes started limping towards her, one hand holding her blood-soaked white coat.

“You should be ashamed, Rahne. After all I did for you, all I did to help you,” she was stopped by a coughing fit, “you’re still an animal.”

She felt her neck prickling and her ears get more pointed, tell-tale signs of her transformation. She turned away from the hallucinations. Dani was huddled up on herself under their shared cover, her whole body tense. Rahne grabbed her hand.

“Dani, you’re safe here, you’re okay, please wake up, don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

She heard Reverend Craig and Reyes getting closer and shook Dani’s shoulder.

“Please, I’ll never let anything happen to you, you’re okay, please stop them.”

Dani’s eyes locked with hers. Rahne hurriedly took her in her arms.

“Please make them go away, you’re alright I promise.”

She felt Dani’s arms tighten against her. The sudden silence was deafening, broken only by Dani’s worried voice.

“I’m so sorry, Rahne.”

Rahne blindly checked if her claws were back into nails before burying them in Dani’s sweaty hair.

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t want to,” she hesitated. “It was… different this time.”

“Why?”

“Reyes was here.”

“Oh, Rahne.”

Dani pushed strands of short hair out of her forehead and kissed her, running her fingers down her face.

“You didn’t kill her. The bear did. I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hesitate to comment on any mistakes/ideas!  
> I'll try to update tomorrow or the day after and with another POV; I'd like to explore a bit more each character's thoughts.  
> See ya!


	3. Scratch my fingers till they're numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for your feedback on the last chapter :)  
> Sorry for the wait for this one, I have to admit that it was kinda hard to write. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, I feel like the first part took too long for not a lot of content... Oh well, that's what happens when you don't really outline and plot ahead. I might try and rewrite it later but first let's focus on the next chapter.  
> Last chapter's title was from Hail Mary by Skating Polly, you should absolutely look them up on youtube, they're so good and the singer is really expressive, the videos are A+
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll like this! Do you think the next one will be with Illyana or Roberto's POV?

Birds were chirping and the sun was shyly showing between the trees when Sam woke up. He had never been one to sleep in. At first he had to use the early mornings to do his homework, having spent the evening ensuring his younger siblings had completed theirs and were fed properly as his father tried not to show his exhaustion. Then he got the early shift at the mine, walking the two miles while blowing on his freezing hands. Now, it was mostly by force of habit. At the hospital, he liked taking walks around the impressive buildings, exploring the grounds and making the most of the impalpable hours between night and day, just breathing and enjoying the loneliness.

He sat down and flinched, effectively clearing the last haziness of sleep. On the other side of the extinct fire, two golden eyes were staring at him. Wolf-Rahne was lying down next to the blanket-covered form of Dani. Her head was laying on her front paws, seemingly relaxed, but he could see the tension in her muscles and the way her ears shifted at any noise.

Sam rose up, shook his stiff shoulders and waved to his friend, pointing to the forest. The wolf got up, looked at Dani’s sleeping face, cautiously took the corner of another blanket between her teeth, and followed him where they could talk without waking them up.

Once he estimated they were far enough, he sat against an oak tree and politely looked away. Rahne said “okay” and he turned to face his friend, turned back and wrapped in the blanket.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked, making the calmest voice he could even as his brain was going a mile a minute, trying to anticipate every possible situation. They were caught. Faceless Essex men were surrounding the clearing. Someone had seen them and called the police. Worst, they had recognized him as the killer he was. Or Rahne argued with Dani. Dani wanted to leave them because they weren’t welcoming enough, or because she was the only one in their little group of freaks who was not wanted for murder. Well, except Rahne, and maybe they were both leaving now that they were free. What if something happened to them? Dani did not control her powers and Rahne’s were limited to a wolf-scale, useless against giant bears or men with guns.

“Nothing.”

He frowned at the girl in front of him. She sighed and rolled her eyes and he did his best to repress a smile and keep a serious front. He was glad Rahne was comfortable enough with him to forget the cautious attitude she had at first, still had with strangers, coming from years of having to be irreproachable. He was glad she didn’t feel anymore like she had to earn basic human decency and friendship.

“Don’t give me that crap.”

She looked stubbornly at the grass between them.

“Okay, are we in immediate danger?”

“No.”

“Is there anyone around?”

“No.”

“Did you argue with Dani?”

“What? No!”

It left him with only one option. Of course, it was the one he dreaded the most. Maybe not as much as Essex founding them, but a close second.

“Did… the reverend come back?”

She nodded.

“Him and Reyes.”

“I thought that it wouldn’t happen anymore? Dani made the bear disappear.”

“I know that! And I thought that too but here I am and now Reyes is also here because I killed her!”

“You didn’t-”

“I know! The bear did it, Dani already told me that, but it doesn’t matter! She’d be dead anyway, I tore her in pieces!”

Sam opened his mouth but she was obviously not finished. 

“And I don’t regret it, she was trying to kill Dani but still, I killed her like I killed Reverend Craig and both only tried to help me, even if it was in a bad way, they wanted to help me be normal and-”

She choked a sob and fell silent. Sam stood up.

“Can I hug you?”

She nodded. He held her tight, ignoring the slight awkwardness of her only wearing a towel. He was always better with actions than words and she clearly needed comfort.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out, okay? We’ll help Dani control her powers. And if it happens again, wake me up, okay? You know all of us would help you with anything, right? Even if Illyana would pretend it bothers her.”

She laughed a little, and he was both reassured by it and even more worried from hearing how watery it sounded.

“Hey. We’re friends, right? That’s what we do.”

He felt her nod against his chest.

“We’re not normal. We’ll never be. Doesn’t mean you’re a monster, or I don’t know what kinda shit they put in your head. You did what you had to do.”

“Now let’s wake the others up, uh? We better go if we don’t want to sleep in the forest again tonight.”

They walked slowly towards the clearing. Sam risked a glance at Rahne. There were red blotches on her cheeks and neck and her eyes weren’t totally dry, but she looked less agitated.

“And hey, next time wake me up, okay? Don’t just stare at me in wolf form. Thought I was gonna have a heart attack.”

She smiled and he watched as she flopped down next to a still asleep Dani who instinctively turned towards her. Cute.

Time to wake the others up. He turned around and came face to face with a drooling Roberto. Not so cute.

Sam pulled his cap lower on his head as they walked into the city. Now they could only hope that the police was not after them. Not hard to find five teenagers, one with a cast, with expressions ranging from confusion to defiance. Sam realized the full extent of this moment: for all of them except Dani, it was the first time in months they entered a city, and that they saw more than ten people. And more than one adult.

There really were a lot of people, he thought as he crashed into Roberto when trying to avoid a woman scurrying along with big shopping bags. It was about noon and the streets were bustling, kids running around, a group of forty-something talking loudly blocking them on the sidewalk, teens with school bags crowding in front of a shop window.

He felt his heart pounding wildly, about to break his rib cage. He shoved his good hand in his jeans pocket to hide the slight tremor. Maybe he should get rid of the cast. He didn’t even think he needed it anymore and it was too recognizable.

They had decided to make a first stop in a mall to get basic supplies. It would be crowded enough to stay discreet. The only problem was the security cameras. Sam hunched into himself, pulled his jacket over his cast and hung his head low. The others did the same, hoods, caps or hair covering most of their faces. They deliberated quickly that it would be better to divide themselves into several groups: people would be looking for two boys and three girls. 

Dani and Rahne paired up, going to the clothes department to find more weather and dissimulation adapted things. Sam and Roberto exchanged a look. Better not to let Illyana alone with her tendency to anger when thrown off balance. She faked nonchalance well enough but they knew it was as hard for her as them, if not more. 

“I’m gonna try and get a map or something like that,” finally decided Sam. He was a bit too stressed out himself. “See you in half an hour in front of this… whatever this store is supposed to be.”

He walked briskly towards a random aisle and tried not to freak out.


	4. Build your expectations [...] 'cause I was born to be your favourite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I don't know if it's because I struggled with the last chapter but this one came together rather quickly. I feel like this story is getting a really uneven feelings/actions ration right now, but this will change with the next chapters. I want to show that even if they're physically free, they're still people dealing with a lot of trauma and weird situations and they're pretty much not okay. 
> 
> Last chapter's title was from The Love-Inns' song Don't Hit On Me. Their whole album is available on Bandcamp and it's really really good.
> 
> Hope you like it, see you soon for Illyana's chapter and then we'll be done with the "introductions"!

Illyana dumped an armful of water bottles into the basket and looked decisively at the other aisles.

“What else?”

“We’re good, I think,” commented Roberto. “Food, water, first-aid kits, maybe we should get some fruits? Can’t be bad for us.”

She nodded and led the way. He followed her with the basket, glaring at anyone looking a beat too long at the girl stomping between customers with an aura of “don’t even think about talking to me”. He was pretty sure that even though he was six feet tall, broad-shouldered and had a mean death stare, people were actually more scared of the girl softly humming while comparing the fruits’ prices.

They went to the self-checkout, sighing at the few people already waiting. It seemed better to waste some time and avoid an interaction with someone who might identify them later. Illyana played with the zipper of her jacket’s pocket, where she had hidden Lockheed, and he mirrored her unthinkingly, feeling for the banknotes.

Once again he congratulated himself -or rather the himself of a year ago- for his foresight. The morning of the very day his parents sent him to the hospital, after hearing his mother’s phone call, he went to the nearest ATM and withdrew the entirety of both his savings account and his college fund. Then he spent two hours hiding it, plus his license and ID, in the lining of all of his clothes. With the help of a few YouTube tutorials to re-sew the hems, sure, but he did relatively well.

They found Dani and Rahne at the designated point, hidden from passersbys and cameras by gigantic potted plants . The two girls proudly showed them the clothes they found -paid thanks to his mother’s inability to close her study’s door- and lifted a small bag from an electronic shop. 

“Cheap phones with prepaid credit,” explained Rahne. “So we can stay in contact if we have to separate again. And they can’t track us.”

“Burner phones! Damn, we’re getting pretty good at this criminal thing, aren’t we?” said Roberto a bit too loud and Illyana elbowed him.

Dani handed out the phones and they added each number, putting only the initials. Maybe they were being paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Or locked in the cage in Essex’s HQ.

“Where’s Sam? He should be back by now. We’ve been here for at least ten minutes.”

“He said he was looking for a map.”

Roberto felt the hair at the back of his neck rise. Looking at the others, they all felt the sudden anxiety. They were so focused on taking all kinds of precautions that being caught off guard suddenly reminded them that they were in danger everywhere.

“Maybe he found something interesting and lost track of time,” said Illyana. She clearly did not believe it herself.

“I’ll look for him. At least it’ll give us a reason to test these things,” joked Roberto.

Dani nodded.

“We should move, we’re starting to look suspicious. We’ll text you.”

He walked away quickly, feigning confidence. Where could he be? He went around all the aisles. Nothing. They should have sent Rahne, with her super-sense of smell, but he wanted to go himself. Sam was his best friend. More than that, there was a chance that he was panicking or something, and Roberto knew that he would not want other people to see him in a bad state. Sam was a carer, and he had that awful syndrome of thinking himself didn't needed or deserved help.

He stopped in his tracks. If Sam was freaked out, he would go somewhere where he could be alone. And where he could keep his powers from hurting everyone.

Roberto rushed towards the toilets. Nobody. Fuck. He went back to the main entrance and checked his phone. Illyana texted him that they were outside, still without a trace of Sam. He decided to make a last round before joining them. And finding a solution.

There was a door labelled “staff only” on his left, in a deserted corridor. He tried to turn the handle. Surprisingly the door was not locked, but something was blocking it closed. He pressed his ear against it, hoping that there was really no staff around. 

Fast breathing. He knocked. The breathing hitched.

“Sam, it’s me. Please open the door.”

There was a noise of something scratching on the floor but the door stayed closed. Roberto entered the room slowly, half afraid of what he would find.

Sam was standing near the metallic desk he must have pushed against the door, looking sheepishly at his feet, where the torn-up cast lied. His hands were vibrating so fast that they seemed blurry. In fact, his whole silhouette was shaking, his outline unfocused.

"Sam, you need to breathe."

No reaction. He quickly texted the girls that he had Sam but would need a little more time.

"Maybe we should get outside. So you can free your powers and calm down, okay? You think you can get out of here?"

He shook his head jerkily and Roberto worried a bit for his neck. He pushed the deck back against the door and sat on it.

"Okay, okay, we're staying here. You've got to tell me what's going on so I can help you!"

Suddenly he remembered something Sam told him back in the hospital.

"Are you feeling claustrophobic? Or that there are too many people?"

Sam nodded and seemed to hunch even more on himself, still shaking violently.

"You know, when I was younger I was really scared of dogs. Like full-on crying and running away when I saw even a poodle. I got bitten twice as a kid, still have a scar on my ankle."

He lifted the bottom of his pant leg, showing the white mark. Sam had his jaw firmly clenched but looked at him, probably wondering why he was even telling him that right now.

"And so I'm thirteen, on my very first date ever with the girl who would become my girlfriend, Maria, and we're eating ice cream in a park after school and it's going really well. Except that a big-ass dog comes out of nowhere running towards us and tries to jump on me. I stumble backwards, my ice cream squash on Maria's favourite shirt, I start screaming like a banshee."

Sam managed to give a small smile. His tremor seemed to slow a little and Roberto continued his story, smiling in spite of himself. Talking about Maria hurt, but this memory would always be one of his favourites.

"And she just looks at me, at the dog, and says 'down'. I swear the dog did it immediately. And then the owner comes to us and this five-feet-tall, thirteen-year-old, shy as fuck girl starts tearing into him about why his dog wasn't on a leash and how he was irresponsible, all the while I'm literally hiding behind her."

Sam's smile widens a little.

"The guy was so surprised he apologized and left. So Maria turns to me, looks at her ruined shirt, and she goes 'will you end the date if I tell you I have three dogs?'"

Roberto laughed, fully remembering the way the girl had showed him pictures of her beloved dogs. He was so focused he jumped when Sam talked.

"What did you do?"

His hands were still shaking but his breathing was regular again.

"I kissed her. And bought her another ice cream."

Roberto's chest hurt. But that was okay. Sam looked him in the eyes, hummed a little, and gestured for him to get down from the desk. They pushed it away from the door.

"That's a nice story."

Roberto nodded and opened the door.

"Let's go find the girls, then we'll decide what to do next." His stomach growled and Sam's echoed. "Maybe we should eat something before anything else."

They walked in silence outside of the mall, squinting at the blinding sun. Sam looked at him again.

"Thank you for telling me this. And I'm sorry that I worried you all."

Roberto gave his shoulder a shove, feeling his throat loosen a little.

"Eh, who said we were worried. Maybe I just wanted to have a boys talk in a cramped office."


	5. Kept my head in the clouds and my skin still tough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Okay, so this might seem sudden but this will be the last chapter.  
> I did not have a real outline or goal for this story except "what happens after and they're happy" so I realized this was a good place for an open end. I'll admit this chapter is short and not my best, but I'm not the best for ends plus I was running out of ideas that wouldn't be "they continue traveling" so repetitive.
> 
> I also learned more about the issues that the movie presented. I already was put off by the racist remarks that Illyana makes against Dani (plus the unnecessary gross sexual comment from Roberto), but the movie did an awful job of casting and clearly whitewashed three of the main characters, including Roberto whose backstory in the comics precisely includes racism (and that's even without talking about the director's more about it that can't even be called tone-deaf), and entirely removed a Vietnamese lesbian character. I'm not the best person to talk about it so here is a good link explaining it, its importance and giving links to other sources: https://kispesan.tumblr.com/post/166403333744/wait-whos-whitewashed-in-new-mutants. Although I think that a fandom can be unrelated to a work and writing this made me go back into writing, I do not want to support such actions and will probably not be writing about it anymore.

They stood in front of the bus station’s noticeboard and Illyana groaned. Of course they had to be a Sunday -a fact that they knew only thanks to the free newspaper she found on a bench- and the next bus going out of state was scheduled three hours later. 

They had decided over greasy fries to put the most distance possible between them and the hospital at first, and only then think about what they would do next. They did a lot of that in the last two days: think short-term, we’ll see for the rest later. Well, it was not like it bothered her; she had been living like that for years.

She brushed the head of the poor Lockheed, still hidden in her pocket. It was safer. In the biggest fast-food joint they found, where there would be enough customers for them to just be another face, Rahne had whispered for her to hide him after a family would not stop looking curiously at her. She had glared at them until they left but still, better not had another easily distinguishable element to their description. She quietly promised him that she would get him out as soon as she could.

They sat in a park and basked in the sun. Rahne had glimpsed a church a street away and she walked quickly towards it, waving her phone to the others. Dani’s worried gaze followed her until the edge of the park but she stayed next to Illyana on the bench. 

Six kids with a soccer ball ran in the grass in front of them and started looking for something to make up goals. One of them dropped his jacket carelessly on a muddy patch, followed by a bag, and a cap was set up a few meters away. When they looked at each other for a last item, Roberto got up and offered them his bag. Illyana watched as he chatted away with them, sunny smile and open posture, and realized that Roberto was good with kids. It was always weird to find out something new about people she thought she knew pretty well. Weird, but in a good way.

Soon he was jogging back towards them, followed by a flock of kids.

“We’re missing someone to have two equal teams, wanna play?”

A little girl walked closer to the bench with the assurance of kids addressing people that they perceived as older but not quite grown-ups and extended a hand towards Illyana.

“Your hair is so pretty! Can I braid it so you can play with us? My mom says that if you don’t tie ‘em up it’ll get in your eyes so I cut up all of mine!”

She indeed sported a disheveled bob. Illyana felt the expectant stares of her friends as the kid kneed on the bench and started finger-combing through her hair without waiting for an answer. She only laughed.

“Sure. Then we’ll kick the boys’ asses,” she said. “Right, Dani?”

A competitive look in her eyes, she nodded and beckoned the two other little girls closer.

“Of course! I’m Dani and she is Illyana, what are you guys’ names?”

High-pitched voices answered -Sam, Ava, and the one currently tying Illyana’s hair with a hair tie coming out of nowhere was Harper- and Illyana shooed away Sam, Roberto and the boys -Alex, Jamie and Cole-.

“Don’t spy on us, we’re crafting a strategy!”

It had been long since she’d last ran freely like that, yelling when Sam intercepted Ava’s pass, laughing with everyone when Roberto slipped in the mud and fell on the face, himself crying from laughter, mock-arguing with Rahne who had been nominated referee upon her return.

Jamie reluctantly announced that they had to go home after looking at his plastic watch. They realized it was also nearly the time for their bus and rushed to the station, waving at the kids until they got out of the park. They dropped on sticky seats, even more out of breath than they were while playing. Roberto beamed at her. She shifted a bit to put Lockheed on her lap and looked out of the window while the bus left the city. 

They might not know where they were going, but they would be okay together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading all of this, and if you liked my writing style or something I'll probably be back for other fandoms :)  
> Also last chapter's title was from Dream Boy by Waterparks and this one's from Lacy Loo by The Regrettes.  
> See ya!


End file.
